Trade
by Shkeerka
Summary: The only way to save her brother's soul was to trade it for her own but Serena will find that the keeper of the underworld is not who he seems to be and maybe she isn't who she thought she was either. M for later chapters-it's going to get hot.
1. Chapter 1

There was something dark about him. I noticed it the first time we met. My brother Andrew had come home from college and he'd brought a friend—a dark and mysterious friend. I don't use the term lightly. Andrew's friend was named Endymion and that's all we were told about him. I remember the first time I saw him. Andrew had rushed in, the way he always did, and hugged both my mom and I, a little more fiercely than usually and introduced his companion as Endymion. No last name. No further explanation. Mom and I met eyes across the kitchen counter but we did our best to smile at the unexpected guest. He was a little over six feet, easily matching Andrew's height but that's where the similarities ended. Where my brother was all fair haired and angelic, Endymion was dark with an edge of danger. Again, I don't use the terms lightly. Endymion just exuded a dangerous vibe. He was the sort of man who, when he looked at you, made you shiver. His eyes were dark blue, more dark then blue most of the time. I felt uncomfortable whenever we were alone in a room for too long. It's as though he could see straight through me and he often took his time doing just that. He wasn't easy to talk to and he hardly ever made polite conversation and asked the most bizarre and sometimes inappropriate questions. It's like he'd been raised by wolves, genetically attractive, but still wolves. Safe to say, I didn't trust the man.

The day everything changed was a regular Tuesday morning. Andrew and Endymion were arguing. I had given up my bedroom to the mysterious guest, against my wishes and without so much as an apology from either of them, I might add. This particular morning, after an uncomfortable night on our family couch, I was making my way upstairs to get ready for the day and I caught the end of their argument.

"I can do as I please" Endymion said in the same cold tone he always used. His face was steely and only inches from Andrew's concerned one. The two men stood at the end of the stairway in what appeared to be a battle of wits or otherwise known as a staring contest in boy language. Neither seemed to be willing to move.

"I don't want you here without me" Andrew said in his don't-mess-with-me tone. I knew it well since that's when I knew I was pushing him too far and he'd probably snap and do something stupid.

"What you want is no concern of mine" apparently Endymion didn't get the clue. I knew any minute Andrew would bust him over the head or something. Did I mention how strange Endymion sounded sometimes? It's like he used vocabulary from another era altogether, but that's beside the point. The point being that Andrew was the one to back off—something I hadn't seen before in my whole life.

"I have some business in town" Andrew began as he looked at his shoes for a very long and uncomfortable moment. He had lost the staring contest and he was searching for a way to rectify the situation. "I may be a while and I would appreciate it if you would stay away from Serena" he said with a plea in his voice. I'd never heard him talk this way, especially not about me. He was always the type to shoot first and ask questions later, like our dad had been when he'd been alive.

"I make no promises" Endymion said, not at all affected by what had just happened. He obviously always won arguments with men like Andrew. I almost wanted to punch him at that moment. Who did he think he was? He'd only been here a few days and already he hurt my big brother. I might have been only sixteen and no match against a man his size, but that didn't mean he could talk that way to my only brother. "But I will not harm her" he finished and met my eyes. I'd been discovered. I didn't know what to do so I just barged my way past them and ran into my room.

When I left my room after getting ready, showering etc. Andrew had already left for town. My mom and I lived in the high parts of the Appalachian Mountains so going into town took a good part of the day. She was making breakfast in the kitchen when I made my way downstairs. Endymion was eating a good helping of her blueberry pancakes. Mom smiled when she saw me heading down the stairs, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She was always glad whenever someone entered the room, I knew the feeling, being alone with our guest wasn't something I wanted to be subjected to either.

"Here you are darling," she said widening her smile and dropping a plate of pancakes on the table, the seat right next to Endymion. I sighed and took my seat. He didn't even say hi.

"Thanks mom" I said taking a whiff of the delicious food. If only I could cook like that. I took a bite and relished in the taste, but only for a minute.

"Take a walk with me" Endymion said as he finished eating his breakfast, he didn't even wait for me as he stood and made his way to the door.

"Uh" I didn't know what to say. I really wanted to finish my food. Breakfast is the most important meal and the one I enjoyed the most but he was already up. He hadn't even thanked mom. I rolled my eyes uttered a thank you and ran out the door after the dark stranger. I was more curious than anything else, if I had to admit it than that would be my reason. I wanted to know what on earth he could possibly have to say to me, especially after having overheard his conversation with Andrew.

"So" I said after about fifteen minutes of silence. We walked over a small bridge that drew over a stream and I enjoyed the scene before us. The water reflected a little bit of the mountains around us and I could almost make out our reflections. His seemed to have an aura of darkness around it, but I may have been seeing things because of my lack of food. I blamed it on the hunger.

"I'm not what I seem to be" he began stopping suddenly. I almost bumped into his back and wasn't the slightest bit prepared when he even more suddenly turned his dark eyes on me. He wore his usual black shirt with black cargo pants and scuffed boots. At that moment he seemed to be exactly what I imagined him to be—Dangerous.

"Okay" I said. It wasn't the vaguest thing I'd ever heard from a boy but if this was some sort of come on line I wasn't going to fall for it. I might have been only sixteen but definitely not stupid enough to fall for taht.

"Andrew isn't what he appears to be either" he continued. Okay this was getting out of hand.

"Whatever you're going to say, stop" I said, angry at his words. "I know my brother better than anybody."

"Really?" he seemed surprised by the rebuttal. "Haven't you noticed the subtle changes? He's kinder, more considerate, always talking about the future and always sad when he does." Endymion said walking towards me on the bridge. He was too tall so I had to look up.

"So" I said in what probably sounded like the most teen angst response I ever made, but I didn't care. "What about it?"

"He should have told you but I fear that he's going to continue lying to you and your mother as long as he can. I feel as though I've no choice but to reveal the truth." See what I mean about talking like he's from another era? What kind of boy says things like that?

"What are you saying?" I said. There was no way I was going to believe anything he said against my brother but I didn't want to seem absolutely unreasonable.

"Andrew's no longer living, not for some time" he said. The words echoed throughout the open space. They slid right off the mountains and bounced right back into my ears but I didn't hear them. How does someone hear something like that? They don't.

"You're crazy" I said turning away from him as swiftly as I could. I had full intention on calling Andrew as soon as my feet made it to the phone in my house but my intentions were interrupted.

"I speak the truth" he said as he grabbed my arm and made me face him again. I don't know what it was but those dark eyes and the feeling they elicited in me made me believe him. It wasn't rational or sane in the least but it was true.

"What are you going to do to my brother?" the words sounded as meek as though I were five years old again facing my worst fear. I'd already lost my father, how much more cruel could fate be?

"I'm not going to harm him" he said and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. "He's already dead" the weight fell back twice as heavy.

"What? How?"

"He drowned in the university pool two weeks ago." Endymion said the words flatly as though he were talking about something as ordinary as the weather.

"What?" I couldn't exactly figure out how to say anything but that one question.

"His body wasn't damaged but his spirit is no longer bound to it, so he'd be dead if it not for me."

"Okay, thanks?" I said trying to understand why he'd be saying these things, what did he want?

"I'm going to take him to his final resting place" he said as his cold hand gripped my arm tighter, leaving imprints and probably bruises.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm here for his soul. I have the power to take it where it belongs and he lives because I will it."

"Why are you telling me?" I asked suddenly unsure. This was not good and it was getting worse. I wished I had stayed and finished my pancakes.

"I could let him live. There are thousands of souls that die each day and some make it back sometimes, near death experiences and such. People get second chances. Andrew could get a second chance, for a price" he said as he stroked the arm he held.

"I don't understand" I didn't really, at all. What could he possibly want with me?

"You're different" he said moving closer. "Not like the rest of your kind, few have been like you."

"I'll take your word for it" I decided he was utterly delusional and I had to run. Crazy people have a way of snapping when you don't play by their rules. I wasn't going to get killed because of Andrew's poor choice in friends. The only problem was that this guy still had a very good grip on my arm.

"Trade" he said "that's what I propose. Your soul for that of your brother." He moved even closer and lowered his head like he was going to kiss me. I was surprised. We'd spent almost a week together and except for a few uncomfortable, on my part, glances he hadn't really noticed me. Or so I thought. I guess I was wrong, very wrong.

"I don't believe you" I said even though I kind of did, especially at that moment. "I have to talk to Andy." I said and ran back into the house when he released the grip on my arm. The air rushed through my lungs and I thought I would pass out at any moment. Mom looked at me as I ran to the phone. The seconds it took for me to dial and for Andy to answer were the longest of my life.

"Hello" his voice said simply. I could hear a lot of background noise through the receiver and I wondered where he'd gone.

"Are you really dead?" the question was scary but I said it because it was the only one that rolled over and over in my head. "Are you?"

"He told you" Andrew said, his voice seemed flat and suddenly I couldn't hold the phone in my hand any longer.

"Andy?" I cried into the device, hoping I had heard wrong.

"Two weeks ago. I'm making arrangements right now. I took life insurance and everything. You and mom will be fine, I promise" he said suddenly talking a mile a minute about things that didn't matter. What did money and insurance matter when I was going to lose my brother? I couldn't go through that again. Losing my dad had been enough. I ran. I ran from, from the truth, from the helplessness that took over me.

"Did I lie?" he asked as I rammed right into him. He didn't even attempt to catch me as I stumbled to the ground. I didn't realize that I'd made it all the way back to the bridge until my butt hit the wooden boards with a painful thump. I looked up at him, he seemed taller and more frightening from that angle.

"You can't do this to us." I whispered tearfully. Most men caved when they saw a girl cry. Not this one. He didn't even flinch. He didn't do anything but look at me. "We can't take another loss like that. He's all my mom and I have left. Who will take care of my mom?" I went on like that for a while my voice rising and the sobs taking over until I wasn't making any sense at all.

"There is another choice" he said, apparently he'd had enough of my shaken state. I almost smiled at him, thinking he'd somehow decided to take pity on my situation but then I remembered the trade.

"No" I said. I didn't want to die. I hadn't even lived yet. "I don't want to die." I said hoping to ear some kind of sympathy from this man, if he was really a man. What sort of being has the power to take a soul right out of his body?

"I don't expect you to die" he said kneeling before me. Any other boy, any other time and I would have thought of it as a romantic gesture. Not with this boy and defiantly not this moment. "Just come with me and he will live, you have my word." I guess it makes sense why he talked the way he did.

"What about me?" I asked and my voice had the decency not to tremble.

"I will not harm you, I promise. I will require some things but none that will harm you." He said reaching out a hand towards me. It almost looked like a hand to help me up, not a hand to pull me to my death, or wherever he was taking me.

"Now?" the word stumbled out of my mouth before I could catch it. So much for being brave. "My mom will worry" I said just as daftly.

"Either way, she will worry but this way Andrew will have the chance to live a full life and so will you, just not the one you expected." His words were hopeful, sort of. At least I didn't have to die. That was good, sort of.

"Promise me that Andrew will be okay" I said as I reached my hand for his.

"I do" he said nodding and taking my hand fiercely. If ever I wanted to escape this was it but I didn't. I decided to go with it. With any luck I'd find a loophole and get out of this situation as soon as I could and save Andy and myself, hopefully. My hope died when we stood up and he put his hand on my abdomen. We stood over the bridge and I could make out reflection, I didn't want to look him in the eye as I was contemplating my escape. His fingers were only there for a moment but they seared through my shirt and I could a dark hand print in the reflection. I looked down and there was nothing on my flesh, just a hole in my blue shirt but the reflection clearly showed me what my eyes didn't see. He'd marked me, whatever that meant. I was pretty sure it wasn't a good thing. I looked at him to question his eyes and he said one word: "Mine." Getting out wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.


	2. Chapter 2

I was his. I belonged to him. The very ideas of belonging to someone terrified me, but belonging to him brought out even more emotions, most of which I didn't even know the names for. In the blink of an eye, my surroundings changed, well they blurred and then I felt like I was going to vomit till I had nothing left in my stomach and then they changed. I wasn't outside of my house anymore. No more did I see the twisty spring reflect the mountains. Now I was in a dimly lit room, a room with a bed. A bedroom. His? It was decorated in the most understated fashion. There was a large oak bed with white sheets, cotton from the look and feel of them and it had a large dresser that was the same shade. The room itself was spacious by all comparisons. I'd never have believed that someone could have that much space for such a simple room. The nightstand near the bed had a lamp but no clock. Matching white curtains blew in the wind as a light breeze came in through the open window. The worst part of all of this wasn't that I was in a room, alone with him, with no foreseeable way out; the worst part was that I was lying on my back on the big bed and he was on top of me. His hand was still on my stomach in that possessive way.

"Don't leave the house," he said as he hovered over me a moment longer then disappeared. I knew one thing for sure. I would never blink again.

He had told me not to leave so naturally that was my first thought. I had to leave. He'd already done his mumbo jumbo magic trick and made Andrew alive again, or whatever he had to do it. I hoped. I was alone. This was my chance to get out. How far could he have brought me in the blink of an eye? I stumbled out of the bed and my feet landed on the cool hardwood floor. That's when I noticed I was barefoot. I'd had shoes on before. My fingers went to the material on my stomach and instead of the torn shirt I found a silk. I looked down and it was real. Instead of my clothes I was wearing a long black silk dress. It went all the way down to the floor and revealed a lot more cleavage than I was used to. The style was a high empire waist, something a Greek goddess would wear, if she wanted to get the Greek gods all hot and bothered, I guess. I didn't like it. Who did he think he was—blinking me to another place and replacing my clothes? He couldn't do that, could he? No definitely not and I was going to find a way out of this situation.

The first sound I heard when I reached the open window was the sound of waves and when I looked outside that's exactly what I saw. It was early evening and the sun was setting, I could see the orange glow through the window. It looked like a blob of red and orange light hopping over the blue water, beautiful I decided but still I had to escape. I looked around, stuck my head right out of the window and hoped to see some sort of sign of life, something other than me. No one and nothing. I couldn't see anyone and I craned my neck a good 360 degrees, it was starting to cramp because of my curiosity.

"What do I do now?" I asked no one in particular.

"Obey" the word frightened the life out of me. I knocked my head against the window as I struggled to get back into the room. He was behind me, merely inches away, if that and he was getting closer.

"I was just" I couldn't come up with anything. My mind was blank then I thought of the sunset. "I was enjoying the view" I hoped it sounded convincing enough.

"I see" he said nodding as he advanced on me. We were barely a whisper away and somehow I felt like he would keep advancing, like nothing would be close enough for him. I gulped as his eyes darkened and he touched my cheek. "You wouldn't want to disobey me" he said caressing my cheek softly. It was the last thing I expected from a man like this—kindness. It made me feel dizzy all of the sudden. I nodded fervently and grasped onto his arms for support as my knees gave out. Now, I was not and have never been the type to fait at a man's feet but I just might have done that if he hadn't caught me. I'm not proud of this fact but there it is.

"I won't," I said gulping and hoping the feeling would pass. It did, but something else replaced it. He lifted me into his arms and laid me onto the bed. Fear began to trickle through me. I finally understood why we were in a bedroom in the first place, what he wanted from me. It made me feel worse than before and something else I didn't understand. "What do you want from me?" I asked, hoping to buy some time and somehow prepare for something I'd never even had a taste of. I mean, I'd been kissed before, twice, but nothing like this. Noting that could prepare me for what I knew in the pit of my stomach was about to happen.

"This time, this night is about pleasing you. I will be gentle." He said quietly, somehow his voice sounded more dangerous than the invading darkness. The sun had just about set and the dimly lit room became almost completely dark. The moon only offered a few rays of reflected light here and there. Somehow I was glad I couldn't see everything that was about to happen. Like, if it felt like a dream, then maybe I wouldn't have to really be there. Maybe it would be okay if I pretended it was a dream.

"Tell me" he said as he started to slowly caress my sides. The feel of silk and his hands made the butterflies in my stomach feel like a hurricane was brewing. "When I please you" he continued as his rough hands continued their journey. I didn't know what to do or say, if I could say anything it would be that everything he did pleased me and terrified me at the same time. I could tell he was trying to be gentle by the way his muscles tightened as he touched me, but it wasn't in his nature and that brought another set of worries I wasn't ready for.

"Okay" I said. Surprising myself, I was the one to kiss him. It wasn't a difficult gesture because he was only inches above me and he smelled really good, better than good but it was the last thing I wanted to do. His only response was to deepen the kiss, which only added to the surprise because I'd never been kissed quite that way. I'd been kissed before, but both times had been the fumbling work of the school quarterback before he changed his mind and started dating a cheerleader. This kiss was definitely nothing like that. This was wild and becoming wilder. I needed to breathe. I broke away gasping and noticed the smirk on his face, the bastard was pleased with himself and I hated him for it.

"Serena" he said my name as he closed even more distance between our bodies. I should have been afraid, I should have been rigid with inexperience and fear but my legs widened to welcome his body closer to mine. I didn't understand how my body could betray me like this. We were still fully clothed but at this point it didn't really matter anymore, no two people had been closer, or so I thought. "Do you like the dress I've given you?" he asked with a glint in those dark eyes.

"I" stuttering I couldn't really answer in the midst of the feelings he created in me. His hands were still roaming my very sensitive body and they weren't shy about my most sensitive places. I gasped as his hand reached between my thighs and stroked. I cried out.

"I don't think it suits you" he mumbled nuzzling into my neck. Then he proceeded to tear the silk material right off my body. I heard the silk give way and felt the slight breeze on my body and of course his hands now had freedom to roam over my naked flesh. I sighed and against my better judgment I brought his face in for another kiss. My eager fingers started tugging at his clothes. My fingers scraped against his shirt and tore at the material as well. I didn't think it was possible to act this way, to want someone so much, to be so afraid and excited at the same time. He obliged my hands and helped me free him of his confining clothes as well. Before I knew it, we were both naked and panting ferociously while his hands tormented my already tortured flesh. He didn't stop, and I could tell he had no intention of doing so in the near future.

"Please" the word escaped my swollen lips and I didn't know what I was asking for but I knew he was the only one capable of giving it to me.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked as he lifted his eyes back to mine. He'd been exploring my curves with his hot mouth and tormenting me into oblivion. "Hmm what pleases you?" he asked nibbling on my earlobe then lower to my neck and then he returned to my aching breast. I couldn't make sense of all of the sensations coming my way but I knew I needed something, desperately.

"I don't know" I gasped as his teeth tugged against the engorged peak of my breast. I stopped breathing as the waves of pleasure took over my body then I started heaving and gasping like I'd never done before. If this was what sex was like for other people I could suddenly understand why people fought and died for it the way they did. "I don't know but I need you" I cried in the midst of my passion.

"You don't know" he murmured as he started the onslaught on my other breast, he wasn't going to let me go. He was going to torture me until I asked him the question he wanted from me, the one question that would seal my fate for good. If I asked this I knew that without a doubt I would always be his. But after being handled the way he was handling me I didn't care.

"I need you inside me" I cried as another wave hit me. I didn't care, at that moment and only that moment, I didn't care that I was giving in. This was no longer about a righteous act to save my brother's life. This wasn't a ploy to escape. This was surrender. I was surrendering myself completely to Endymion and judging by the look on his face after hearing my words, he was enjoying the hell out of it.

"As you wish" he murmured and thrust into me. The pain surprised me. In the midst of all of the pleasure he'd put me through, the pain had been something I wouldn't have expected. He knew what he was doing and I thought that he would be able to spare me the pain of my innocence but it seems that not even he could do that. I cried out for a different reason this time. I wanted him to stop or at the very least slow down but he didn't. His eyes were on mine as he moved within me. He watched me with curiosity and intensity. "Soon," he murmured as he hit an especially sore spot "it will be pleasurable again soon" he finished and stroked my cheek. I trembled when it did come. He gentled his pace and slowed until I was gasping again, asking, again not sure what for. I trembled and cried out as the heat of the peak destroyed every ounce of sense I had in me. I gasped and grabbed a hold onto his shoulders and rode the wave. He seemed to be feeling the same thing because he groaned and trembled against me, a very primal sound.

This wasn't like in the movies, with the slow music and romantic lighting, this was primal and passionate and absolutely unbearably…I don't even have a word for it. My mind stopped working and I felt his body go lax right after mine. He crumbled above me and I felt his full weight above me. I should have been revolted, I should have pulled away, but I just pulled him closer and rested my face in the crook of his neck. It was wrong but felt so right to lay there with him, that way. We were still for a few moments longer and then he pulled away. There was surprise in my eyes when he not only rolled off of my but stood and started dressing. He was leaving. How could he leave after that?

"Where are you going?" the question sounded needy but I hadn't expected him to leave. I felt needy. This was my first time and he was leaving right after, is this how it would always be?

"I have souls to tend to" he said coolly from his stance beside the bed. "You need to rest, I will come back after you've healed" he said as he buttoned the rest of his shirt buttons.

"That's it?" I asked. I wanted to slap him. How dare he? He used me and took my innocence and then expected me to wait around for him, when the mood suited him? "Is this what you want me for?" I asked throwing my body off of the bed. I didn't care that I was stark naked. "Is that all that I am to you? Your whore?"

"No" he said as he stopped his movements and towered over me. I suddenly wanted to take back all of my words but my pride wouldn't let me. "You're more than that, you will see soon enough, but for now you will obey and you will stay in this house." He said and stepped back after giving me a short, rough kiss and disappeared.

Conversation over, I guess. What the hell was I supposed to do now? And how was I going to get out of this?


	3. Chapter 3

If I'm going to be honest about it, I cried a little…a lot actually. I don't know if I was crying because I'd just given my virginity to a guy who obviously couldn't care less. Or, that I would never see my family again. It could have also been because I was going to be stuck in this stupid house for the rest of my existence…which would be a really long time if I can't die. Can I die? I don't even have an answer for that. It was probably a combination of everything, the crying wasn't one of my best scenes but hey it happened. After bawling my eyes out for a very long while I got hungry which led to another dilemma because I couldn't leave the house. After cursing Endymion with a few choice words and phrases, I decided to tiptoe my way to the kitchen. It's a house there had to be a kitchen and there was one, an absolutely spectacular one. The hardwood floor led me right to it. Stainless Steele appliances, granite countertops, gold etchings on the cabinets and a fridge stock full of everything. Figuring since Endymion was a guy who dealt with death I thought he'd stay away from meat in general but the fridge had everything from old fashioned chicken wings to things I couldn't name and didn't care to smell.

At least I had food and a shower with all the necessities. Best of all, the next day I spotted an actual human being, lots of them in fact. I woke up to the sound of men talking in Spanish, just outside my window. I jumped right out of bed when I heard the sounds, realizing too late that I was still completely naked. Their heads turned quickly in my direction and I blushed the reddest shade of red and ran into the bathroom. Once showered and dressed in the simplest dress I could find: an empire waist silk light blue one. Endymion sure knew how he wanted me to look, almost every single dress was designed like something from the Greek era. I stuck my head out of my bedroom window again but the men were no longer there, instead there stood a young boy who looked about ten years old.

"Hey" I cried out in sheer happiness. Another human being! Finally there was someone who could tell me where I was.

"Hola" the little boy said as he approached me rather uncertainly. Every step he took his eyes got larger and larger, like he was ready to run at any minute.

"I won't hurt you" I said in my most soothing voice. "Do you speak English?" I asked hopefully.

"English" he said looking at me slowly. Just my luck, the first contact I have with another living person and we can't communicate.

"Yeah?" I said as I considered giving up and accepting my situation. That was the final stage of grief—acceptance and I was mourning myself.

"Yes, a little" he said in a soft voice. I could have kissed his chubby little sunburned cheeks. I cried out in relief and he retreated.

"Wait, please wait" I cried. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I just really need to know where we are."

"You don't know?" he said as if my question had been the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy but could you tell me and tell me what day it is?" I said hopefully.

"We are in California and today is Wednesday" he looked at me strangely and I was about to ask him some more questions but someone else called him and he ran away from the crazy lady in the window.

Some information is better than no information. California. I was on the other side of the country. Why would Endymion bring me here? Of all the places he could have taken me, this wasn't one I considered. I figured I'd be in hell or limbo or something but no I was in California on what seemed to be a vineyard. In the daylight I could see the fields and fields of grapes and the workers that harvested them.

Wednesday—that means that it had only been one day. My family would just be starting to worry. They would still be looking for me. Maybe there was a way I could get word to them, maybe I could escape. At that moment, at that very moment Endymion appeared beside me. I could see his dark form in my peripheral vision and I wondered seriously if he could read my mind. He stood silently as I turned to face him, saying nothing.

"We're in California" I said because I didn't know what else to say to the man.

"Yes" he said shortly. He moved toward me and I stumbled backwards against the bed. There was a glint in his eyes and I could tell what he wanted.

"Guess again" I said as I climbed across the bed and stepped off on the other side. "You're not touching me, hear me?" I said trying my best to be menacing.

"Why not?" he asked lifting a dark eyebrow. I realize that if he'd wanted to he could have just blinked beside me whenever he wanted to but I hoped he wouldn't touch me without my say so. Maybe that was asking for too much.

"You hurt me last night and you left." I glared at his dark shape. Even in the light, he seemed to be emitting some sort of darkness. Maybe that was wrong, he was actually taking away from the light. As if light darkened when it reached him, not a comforting image.

"I had souls to tend to" he said, his voice rigid. His jaw tightened and the muscles worked overtime to keep up with the tension.

"I gotta work is not an excuse for something like that" I cried. Outburst or not, I was right. "Why did you bring me here?" I said, trying to control my voice.

"I assumed you would enjoy the weather" he said as he blinked and appeared in front of me. He stroked my cheek for a moment and I felt my resolve fail me. His touch obviously did things to me. I pulled away and stepped back as far as I could before hitting the nightstand behind me.

"Who are you?"I asked stalling for time. He wasn't taking my previous statement seriously. "And don't touch me without my permission" I said.

"You already know" he said as he stopped his advance. A frown appeared on his forehead and the tension returned to his jaw. I guess he didn't like not getting his way.

"Andrew said you were a friend from college, somehow I doubt that, you being able to take souls and all" I said. "Who are you really? And why am I different. I remember that you said I was different."

"You ask too many questions" he said turning away from me. It occurred to me that he could just disappear and I wouldn't get anything out of him. I rushed towards him without thinking and grabbed onto his arm.

"That's what girls in my century are like. I don't know what you're used to but I have a right to know who I'm sleeping with."

"I am Endymion" he said eyeing my grip. There was no way I would let go, and that didn't count as an answer.

"That doesn't count as an answer" I told him. "What makes you the way you are? How can you control people's souls?"

"Have you not wondered what happens when death comes?" he said looking deeply into my eyes. Suddenly I didn't like how close we were but I couldn't take the chance that he'd disappear with all my answers. Well, he wasn't answering me anyway but I'd get it out of him.

"Yeah, I guess. I just didn't know you'd be coming for me." The words left my mouth in a whisper. Somehow the air changed as we spoke. "Are you death?"

The question rang in the air for a long moment.

"No" he finally said. "I am the groundskeeper of the souls."

"What does that mean?"

"Uhg" he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. I could sense his frustration but I pressed on. My eyes questioning even as I held my tongue. Now I'm using his vocabulary—insert mental eye roll.

"I don't deal with this stuff every day. So you'll have to dumb it down for me" I said trying for patience but failing desperately.

"When souls are no longer connected with their bodies, they leave. They travel freely and uncertainly to whatever draws them most. Some stay with the ones they were most connected to some simply wander. I am the keeper of these souls. I help them find their way to the next destination, whatever that may be." He said watching my reaction. I really started to wonder if he could read my mind, he seemed so interested in my thoughts.

"You're like a guide or an angel of death" I said. This didn't sound so bad, way worse than the things I'd imagined. At least he wasn't the devil.

"My position is not one that will fit into your mythology." He said as his eyes darkened. He didn't seem to want to tell me anything but if his patience was wearing thin I couldn't give up now.

"Okay," I said even though none of this was okay. "Were you always like this?" I asked suddenly curious.

"I was once an ordinary man" he said after a pause. "No more questions." He said roughly as he advanced on me and took hold of my shoulders roughly. "I want what I came for" and then he kissed me.

Great, just great I thought sarcastically. I tried to pry him off me. I clawed and fought but he wouldn't let go. This couldn't be happening and it shouldn't be happening. Obviously I had completely misunderstood my importance to him. He didn't care about my feelings at all. He just wanted me for one thing. His hands were hard as they tugged at the dress that covered me. I heard the fabric rip and felt it fall down to my feet. He wasn't lying last night when he said he'd been gentle. If this was what I had to look forward to for the rest of my life, I couldn't go on another moment. I screamed into the kiss and started crying. That finally did it, it got his attention. He stopped. We stared at one another for a moment and then I took every ounce of strength I had left and punched him right in the face. It worked too, because he stumbled back a few steps. My dad had taught both Andrew and I how to defend ourselves. I finally got to use those skills.

"Don't touch me" I finally said after I'd caught my breath. I reached down and wrapped the dress back into place as well as I could. One shoulder was torn badly and so I had to tie that part together to keep it in place.

We stared at one another for a long time. He didn't say anything. He should be apologizing. He should be doing something. I was so furious at him and he wasn't responding at all, except for that stupid stunned look on his face.

"Well say something" I finally said after almost fifteen minutes of awkward silence.

"I had not intended to hurt you" he said after licking his lips. That only made me more mad.

"Really? Well forcing yourself on a girl tends to have that effect" I drawled and crossed my arms over my chest. Somehow it didn't have the satisfaction I hoped for. His eyes were so blue when they met my gaze. I actually felt sorry for him. Stupid! I forced down my reaction.

"Serena" he began as he walked towards me. My first reaction was to back away but that didn't do much good last time so instead I stood my ground.

"Don't come near me" I said as I raised my clenched fists ready to fight him.

"You should not fear me" he said stopping where he stood. Endymion looked sad, beyond sad.

Ahh! Is this Stockholm syndrome? Am I identifying with my captor? I couldn't be doing that.

"You should not attack me" I retorted hoping to add some sting to the sentence.

"I have not had much experience with your kind" he said reaching out his hand again.

"Please don't" I said trying to get him to understand I didn't want to be touched. "I don't trust you" I said. Suddenly I wanted to cry again.

"You're different" he said. "Your soul has a light that few others have had. I am drawn to you like no other. I cannot be away from you for too long. It is a shame that I've just found you and now you've lost all faith in me. If anything, I would like to give you everything you desire but my existence has kept me isolated from the living. I do not know the proper courting customs, the proper way to be with you." His words were said softly. They echoed off the walls and the breeze came in through the open window. "Tell me what you desire and I will give it to you."

"I want to go home" I said sniffling and wiping at my tears.

"No" he said going rigid. All the sentiment was gone from his voice. He was back to the cold unfeeling man he'd been moments before. "You are mine and you will stay here." He said and then he disappeared, leaving me to cry my eyes out another night.

AN: I know this was a bit sad but I think it's important for the story. Let me know what you all think. Thanks to everyone for their reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

Late into the night, he came to me again. We didn't speak. I had used all up of my energy crying so when he simply appeared and climbed into the bed, I didn't fight him. Probably, I should have but probably was the last thing on my mind. He held me. For the first time since our meeting, Endymion, simply held me. Exhausted and instantly comforted I fell asleep. Morning light slipped in through the window and woke me and that's when I noticed that he was watching me. He stroked my hair. I knew I should fight him for dominance that I should not give in just because he was being kind but I couldn't help it. I needed someone to lean on and Endymion was the only one there.

"You should have been like this the night before last," I said looking into his eyes. With the sunlight at this angle they were the most beautiful shade of deep blue. My breath caught in my chest.

"I know" he said smiling down at me. "I will not make the same mistakes again" he murmured lowering his face to kiss me. He pulled out of my embrace slowly, gently as if preparing me for his departure.

"Wait," I said as I reached for his vanishing embrace. "Don't leave me yet."

"I have responsibilities to tend to" he said as his body went still. He was waiting for me to be angry again. I could tell.

"Can I go with you?" I asked, not sure what I wanted the answer to be. If I went to the underworld would I come back? He'd said that he wasn't death but he sure acted like it. He had the power of death. Where else could he be going?

"The place I go" he stopped and stroked my hair. Endymion kissed my cheek and then nodded. "Alright, you may come with me but you must do as I say," he said rising from the bed. A moment later he vanished.

"What?" the action caught me off guard and just as I began to panic he reappeared, holding clothes in his arms.

"Wear this" he said shoving the clothes into my arms.

I nodded mutely and made my way into the bathroom. Looking at my reflection I couldn't help but notice how different the girl in the glass appeared. She had my eyes and hair and face but she looked dangerous. She wore a black pair of cargo pants and a black tee shirt with black boots. This Serena was ready for battle, for whatever life threw at her. I couldn't help but wonder where the sixteen year old version of me had gone to so quickly. I'd only known Endymion for a few days and he had already changed me so much. I stepped out of the bathroom and he smiled at me. He moved toward me and I noticed there was something in his hand. A small bracelet, if it could be called that. It was a black pearl that was tied to a small black cord. He wrapped it around my small wrist, my hands looked so small in his. We stood facing one another for a moment, preparing for what was to come. He pulled me into a tight hug and then we were gone.

In a single blink, I had ended up in a whole different place. With my eyes still closed, I found that this helped with the nausea, I could smell the difference. Slowly, I opened one eye and then the other. The sight before me was fantastic, not fantastic as in great but fantastic as in not even remotely possible. We were standing among the stars, yes stars. We were standing, rather floating, in the midst of countless and countless numbers of stars. Some were whizzing by and others seemed fixed where they were, by our side. Star Trek had nothing on this. This was way cooler than anything I'd ever seen in the movies.

"Where are we?" I asked in a hushed tone, feeling that I one word could ruin the beauty before me. I looked up at him and caught my breath. He smiled down at me, the stars reflected in his eyes, his breathtakingly beautiful eyes. How had I not seen him this way before?

"We are among the souls" he said kissing my forehead.

"They look like shooting stars" I said. I wasn't able to look at them anymore; I couldn't tear my eyes away from Endymion. He didn't look like this on Earth, I'm sure of it. There was no way I'd have missed how extremely handsome he was. Sure, he'd always been attractive but now he looked unbelievably so. "You look different" I said still stuck in my stupid trance. Different didn't even begin to describe it. He looked darker, his blue eyes were a darker shade of blue and the shadows on his face played up the sharp angles of his cheeks and chin. His lips, those lips that I couldn't help but want to kiss and never stop kissing, we drawn in a perfect smile.

"So do you" he said as he lowered his lips, this time to my lips. He tasted different too, better so much better. The world could have stopped, the stars could have stopped shining and I wouldn't have noticed. Nothing could tear me away from that kiss, except Endymion did. He pulled away gently and stroked my cheeks, framing my face with his hands. "Shall we get on with it then?" he asked smiling down at me.

"Yes" I nodded not sure what I'd agreed to. At this point I didn't care. Never in my life had I been this head over heels for a guy but I couldn't snap out of it. The attraction was too strong.

"Don't let go of my hand" he said as he led the way. We walked/floated through the constellations of stars, at least they looked like constellations to me.

"Constellations" I said the one words as I followed him.

"Families" he said turning back to me. "People find their loved ones, even in death" he said smiling at the sights before him.

I could suddenly understand why he chose this place over me. It was more than I could ever offer him. The thought brought a wave of sadness that crashed into me so hard that I stumbled as I walked. I fell to my knees and hugged my sides. The pain inside me multiplied and kept multiplying. I couldn't make it stop. My tears poured out of my eyes and fell all around me; I thought I would drown in them. Fear and panic took over me and I started to shake, my body trembled so roughly that I thought my limbs would rip right out of my core. I couldn't help the cries that left my lips. Endymion turned around with panic in his eyes. He pulled me into his arms and we blinked away.

"What happened?" I asked as I finally managed to control my emotions. I looked around and noticed our new surroundings. He had taken us to another room. It resembled our room in California. The bed was large and made of similar wood but instead of white walls and a window with a view of vineyards and ocean tide, I found myself looking at the insides of cave walls. Maybe not really cave walls, more like stone walls, walls that rose high and didn't seem to have a ceiling.

"You emotions overwhelmed you" he said stroking me and leaning me back against the soft pillows of the bed we were laying on. He hovered over me and watched my reaction. "I should have warned you this might happen" he said, his blue eyes were still bluer than I'd ever remembered them being. He kissed me again. I kissed him back. It was a stronger and more passionate kiss than any we'd shared on Earth.

"Why do I feel like this?" I asked when he finally pulled away to let me breathe. What I really wanted to know was why was he felling this way? He'd never been this affectionate before and now he couldn't take his hands off me. He was gentle and kind and when he touched me I couldn't get enough of it.

"Everything is amplified here," he whispered stroking my cheeks and kissing me again.

"Everything?" I asked catching onto his train of thought.

"Yes" he nodded and pulled me closer. We kissed again, deeper and deeper until I thought we would stop being two people and blend into one being. Then and only then did he pull away. "We have to stop" he said pulling my hands from his hair. I hadn't even realized that I'd been pulling him closer the entire time. Now that he was a few inches away from me I felt empty and alone and the fear took over me again. "Serena" he said touching my cheek "you have to control your feelings."

"How?" the sob escaped my heaving chest. I couldn't imagine being this far away from him. I couldn't handle it another minute longer.

"Serena" he tried to calm me down by brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear but the touch had the opposite effect. It only made me want him more. "We can't give into this yet. It will change everything."

"I don't care" I said as I pulled him into my arms. I kissed him. I trapped him to my body and dared him to pull away. He didn't. He simply gave into my demands, I felt him surrender and it was triumphant. We trembled in each other's arms. We loved one another; loved like I had never imagined loving could be like.

The first time we'd been together, it had been mind blowing, until he left but this time it was so much more. Every time we touched one another we shook. I felt his pleasure as my hands started to trace his arms and shoulders through the dark shirt he wore. He shivered under my explorative touch. I shivered when he kissed my neck and scraped his teeth against my collar bone. I cried out when his hands slid under my shirt and started caressing my breasts. I couldn't help the way this felt. I couldn't have imagined anyone could feel this way.

"Endymion" his name came out on a moan. "This is taking too" I cried out as he moved closer to me, above me "too long." I needed him inside me but these clothes were in the way. I started tearing the material of my shirt. I needed to get it off, all of it.

"Let me" he said and our clothes disappeared. We were left in the same position as before but naked. He moved into position and I widened my legs for him. They wrapped around the small of his back. I needed no instruction this time. I needed nothing. I just needed him. "You want me?" he asked hovering over me. I could feel the weight of his body and his arousal was so strong that it forced another cry from my lips. I need him.

"Yes" I cried. I trembled. I couldn't help it. I couldn't wait anymore. My legs wrapped tighter around his body, bringing him closer. I watched the mask of control, the one he always wore on his face, I watched it vanish. What I saw in his blue eyes astounded me. He gave into our combined desire. We melted into one being and rode the rough terrain of passion. We became mad with it, crazy for more, always more.

Eternity or mere moments later, I wasn't sure anymore, time didn't matter. We stopped, Endymion's body went lax on top of mine and with a final cry he emptied himself into me. I couldn't get enough. The moment we climaxed I wanted more. He shivered when I started kissing him again. He hadn't even moved out of me when I felt him harden again.

"Again" I said feeling the need grow stronger and stronger. I needed more, more, always more.

"We need to stop, we need" he lost his words and we rode the wave together.

I lost track of how many times, this happened. All I knew was that I couldn't ever get enough and neither could he. When I was satisfied he pulled me to the edge once more. We didn't stop, we didn't know how. My body was sore but I still didn't feel like I could stop the desire that fogged my mind to everything else.

"We need to stop" Endymion said. This was his fifth; maybe sixth time trying to bring us back from the edge. I pulled away this time and let him stop. The space between us, a few inches, felt like eternity but I held still where I was.

"Why are we feeling like this?" I asked barely able to catch my breath.

"Everything is amplified here" he said breathing the same way I was. He reached for me and I pulled back.

"Don't okay? I don't think we'll ever be able to stop if we start again." The words hurt as I said them, more than anything I wanted to do it again and again. "Can we go back home?" I said the words unexpectedly. I meant home, not my childhood home where my mother and brother were worried sick about me but my home with Endymion, my home in California.

"Yes," he said as he touched my hand. The gesture was careful and barely a whisper flesh against flesh and then we were in our bed and the window was blowing wildly as the rain poured outside.

We stared at one another for a long moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

He reached out to touch me and I pulled back. The movement brought all kinds of aches to my sore body. How could I have done that? How could I have given him exactly what he wanted after I had resolved to do exactly the opposite?

"You tricked me" I accused and scooted away from him. I hugged the white sheet to my tired body and climbed off the bed.

"I" he said opening his mouth and then closed it again. "I only did what you asked me to do" his voice had gone cold and emotionless again. Where was the man who was so tender and kind and loving?

"Wait" I cried as I noticed his form start to disappear.

He stopped. He didn't vanish and I waited for him to speak and then realized I was the one who had cried out for him. I was the one who had to say something. "Is it always like that?" I asked still not able to move closer to him. I wanted to, desperately. "When you go there, do you always get lost in your emotions like that?" I asked. Things were making sense.

"Yes" he said watching me put the pieces together.

"Were we in heaven?" I asked suddenly.

"No" he laughed. "I told you that your mythology cannot explain who I am and where I go." His smile wasn't mean, it seemed sweet.

"But that's where souls go" I said trying to reason everything out in my mind.

"Sometimes" he said "but it is not the place you think it should be. Life is not simple, death is even more complex," he said.

"Is that why" I asked and then became frightened by my question but I had to know. "Is that why you are so cold sometimes, with me?"

His eyes softened. He stood up and walked toward me. "Forgive me, Serena" he said as he touched my cheeks and stroked softly. The gesture didn't have the same effect as it did before but still it was comforting. "I've had to learn to control my emotions and I forget what I seem like on Earth. I will try to do better."

"I hurt you" I noticed the marks on his shoulders. Long scratches covered his wide shoulders. I looked down at my fingernails and found dried blood. How could I have done that?

"No more than I hurt you" he said smiling slowly. Only then did I notice the marks on my own body. His lips and teeth had traversed over every inch of my body and the memory of that gave way to a moan. I shivered with the memories and my weak knees gave out under me. He caught me and carried me to the bed. "We need to rest" he said as he lowered me onto the soft confines of the bed. His blue eyes darkened and I could see his need reflecting exactly what I felt. "Separately" he finished as he stood at the edge of the bed. I knew without a doubt that if he climbed into bed with me, we would start the cycle all over again. Even though we weren't overwhelmed by our emotions here, we were still caught up in our mutual desire for one another. Everything had changed, just like Endymion had warned me.

"You'll come back?" I asked as he pulled away from my awaiting arms.

"Always" he said and vanished into thin air.

I was left alone with my aching body, aching from soreness and need. I needed him. How could I need him so much? Last night I had hated him, told myself he was the worst thing that ever happened to me and tonight, tonight I needed Endymion more than the air that struggled to come through my gasping mouth. The memories of our lovemaking left me shuddering for most of the night. I couldn't help reliving what we'd done to one another. If this was how the rest of my eternity was going to go, I wouldn't mind at all.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone. I really appreciate hearing your reactions. Here's another one for you. Let me know what you think.

B

O

R

I

N

G

Two days, two long and dreadfully boring days had gone by without a word from him. He had left me so that I could recover. I didn't realize that meant that I would never hear from him again. How long did he think I'd need to recover? I know that time means less than nothing in his world but in mine it ticks by just as it always did. I guess it's true what they say about a guy never calling after he gets what he wants. I think I'm going to pull all of my hair out or walk right through the damn floor. I stared at stoic door one more time. Knowing it was locked didn't matter. I reached for it and turned the knob that didn't turn. After doing this a hundred times, you'd think I'd have a clue as to where I wanted to go but I didn't. I just wanted to be near him.

"Damn him," I said as I slumped on my large bed. Yes, I've started calling it my bed. He had one in his world, where he probably took every conquest and he was probably with some girl right now doing…"Damn him!" I cried out into the night. Thoughts like that were too stressful and depressing. How had I become so needy all of the sudden? I'd never been the type of girl who needed a man this badly. Then again, I'd never been the type of girl who had a man to begin with, especially not a man who was so good at pleasing a woman.

I sighed and stared out the window. I'd left it open because it was the only contact I had with the outside world. The vineyard was deathly quiet, with no one in sight. The workers had gone home long ago and the silence was strangely soothing. The sound of the waves in the distance added to the beauty of the moment. I wished I could be there. I wished I could stand on the sand and feel the water on my bare feet. I wished and wished and finally let myself have it. Being alone and imprisoned in this house for two days was driving me slowly mad because in the next instant I could almost feel the sand underneath my toes and then the waves came crashing in and I had to open my eyes.

"Ahhh" I screamed. A crazy thing I know, especially with all I'd seen the last few days, but I couldn't help it. No one was here to teleport me. This was my doing, somehow I had wished to be here and here I was. Laughing I ran into the cold water and screamed again as it hit my thighs and the waves sprayed my face. The most fantastic feeling came over me. I'm free.

"Serena," his voice startled me and I slipped in the water.

The waves rushed over my body and covered me completely. I didn't have a chance to catch my breath. Water got into my eyes and nose and when I tried to catch my breath all I gulped down was more salty sea water. Drowning was nothing like it seemed like in the movies. Instrumental music didn't play in my head as the waves washed me away. I didn't see my life flash before my eyes. There was no sense of calm. All I felt was panic. The blood rushed in my ears adding to the overwhelming noise and made me panic even more. I tried to reach for anything I could but found nothing, I'd just about given up and stopped my flailing arms when a hand reached for mine and pulled me up.

In that instant I was no longer on the beach, I was in our room. The floor was slowly being soaked from our combined bodies but neither of us cared.

"Endymion," I cried and flung my arms around him. His body felt so warm and strong. I forgot all about my stinging eyes and the breath that I was having hard time breathing. I choked for a moment afterwards and he helped me sit on a nearby sofa. It was a white, beautiful thing and I knew I'd feel terrible for ruining it with my soaked clothes, later when I cared. Right now, I was trying to fight for breath and cling to him so that he didn't disappear.

"Serena," he began again after I'd calmed down and my breathing had come under control. Most of the salt water had soaked into the couch and on the floor below us. His eyes were unreadable.

"I've missed you," I said as I clung to his wet shoulders.

"You have?" his eyes changed from unreadable to sweetly amazed in a moment. "I thought you wanted to leave me," he said as he touched a damp strand of my hair. "You left the house," he said pulling my hair behind my ear.

"I don't know how I did that," I said leaning into his touch. Since when did his touch affect me so much? "I just wanted to get out, you know being cooped up like this is not good for a girls health." I said. "You left me alone for two days, I thought I was hallucinating."

"I thought you needed time," he whispered and slowly lowered his head to mine. I thought he might kiss me but instead he pulled my wrist up and stared at the small bracelet he'd given me. The black pearl had transformed to white. The cord remained the same dark color but the pearl was a vibrant and visibly glowing white.

"What's happening to it," I asked as I shivered slightly. I wished I could have a change of clothes. I knew exactly what I wanted but he seemed too busy staring at my jewelry to notice my discomfort and then the pearl flashed a bright white glow and I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans and my navy tee shirt. "Endymion, what's going on?" I asked as I took in my clothes.

"I knew you were different," he said watching me. His eyes were unreadable again.

I wanted to know what he was going to say next but an idea popped into my head that was more powerful than my curiosity. I could go home. The brightness flashed and I stood on the small bridge near my house. The mountains in the distant night looked looming but majestic. I couldn't help but smile at the sight. My mother would be so happy. I turned to run toward her but he blocked my path.

"Serena, I told you not to disobey me" he said as he moved toward me.

"I didn't" the fear took me a little longer to respond but I tried again "I didn't know I could do this. I'm home, Endymion" I looked into his dark eyes and saw the anger he was trying to hold back. He wasn't doing too good of job, that means that he must have been really angry.

"You cannot be here. We made a bargain for your brother's life. You promised me yours in return," he said as he advanced toward me.

"Why do you want me?" I asked in a small wavering voice.

"No other human in this lifetime, in many lifetimes, can do what you just did," he said as he touched my now dry hair. He stroked my head gently but I could feel the tension in his fingers and see it in his eyes. He was trying to convince me to go back. I couldn't do that, could I?

"But I'm home" I whispered. "Can't I just tell my family that I'm okay? I will come back right after that, I promise," I tried to convince him I reached for his strong hand and intertwined our fingers. He smiled at me and kissed my fingers. I thought he'd agree that maybe there could be some middle ground to this promise I'd made because I couldn't imagine my life without him but I missed my family desperately.

"No," he said as his lips connected to my flesh.

I blinked and we were in his world. I knew the minute I'd stepped away from him that this wasn't the same room we'd just come from. The stone walls went up high without end and my emotions escalated until I had no control over them. I wanted him but I wanted to be with my family so I hated him but I needed him so I loved him. I screamed and cried and fought but he stood silent and waited out until I had a smidge of control over my wild emotions.

"Better?" he asked when I'd stopped shaking from my latest crying fit.

"Don't touch me," I shouted when his hand reached for my shoulder. If he touched me I wasn't sure if I'd kiss him or kill him or both. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked calming for a moment.

"We should talk and you should not be able to leave without first understanding. This is my home, where I am most comfortable. It will be your home soon," he said as he sat down beside me on the cold floor. Somehow I'd ended up there, all tangled hair and limbs sitting on the floor. He didn't seem to mind sitting like that, like the cold didn't affect him. I hated him for it but resisted the urge to strike him.

"You gave me that pearl," I accused after a few minutes of silence. "And now you want to take it away."

"I cannot and would never. It is rightfully yours," he said sliding his hand under my chin. Our eyes met and for a moment for a very long and desirable moment I wanted him to kiss me. He didn't and I held back my own wants and needs. This place was too much and left me shaking and shuttering for so many different reasons.

"Endymion, you can't keep me prisoner" I said.

"I have done no such thing, you came willingly." He responded and stood up, offended by my accusation.

"What's the worst that would happen if I went home for a little while." I looked up at his intimidating form. "I wouldn't leave you" I whispered desperately but honestly. "I don't think I could do that now. I need you. The last two days have been awful."

"Serena, they know. I've told Andrew about our agreement. He was angry but he has no say. They know," he said.

"But I miss my mom." I cried. "I'm only sixteen. I can't be expected to live in the underworld for the rest of my existence."

"I've told you that your mythology cannot explain this place," he sighed and pulled me into his arms. He carried me to the bed and settled me on it. I leaned into the soft pillows defeated. What else could I do? I'd been trying to wish myself out of here the whole time and it wasn't working and his arms were steady and comforting. "You and I are intertwined in a way that few others have been in all of time," he began as his hands stroked my cheek and he lay beside me. "What we feel will not end. I have waited a very long time to find you and I cannot give you up," he whispered softly. Right then, I wanted to give into him to love him and just be with him but that's not true to who I am.

"I don't want to be locked up in your bedroom, waiting until the next time you want me. I can't live like that," I said softly not wanting to anger him.

"I know but I must know if I can trust you before I let you free. Honestly," he murmured nuzzling my neck "I had not expected you to overcome the pearl so quickly, otherwise I wouldn't have given it to you so soon. You're much stronger than I thought you'd be. I'm pleased." His hands traveled down the length of my body and I leaned into him. He was trying to distract me and he was doing a good job of it.

"You can't distract me," I lied as I ineffectively tried to pull away. "What do you want from me?" I asked slowly giving in to the needs of my body.

"I want your soul," he said as he kissed my lips deeply.

"What?" I cried out pulling away from me. Fear gripped my heart and the breath whooshed out of my lungs.


	6. Chapter 6

"My soul?" I cried as I climbed backwards against the headboard. "Who says things like that? Why would you want my soul?" We were staring at each other on Endymion's large bed. He hadn't moved at all while I was shaking and freaking out. Who says things like that? My soul, why would he want my soul?

"I've frightened you," he began as he stood from the bed. He righted himself and turned towards a door that appeared in the nearest wall.

"Wait a second, where do you think you're going?" I cried out as I clumsily made my way over the bed towards him. "You can't say something like that and then leave! That's not how things work in the living world. You have to explain yourself." I had him in a death grip; there was no way I would let him get away with dropping a bomb like that.

"You," he began then stopped. He looked down at me for a moment and his gaze changed, so many emotions ran through his eyes but I didn't know him well enough to know what they were. "Serena, you are made of light, your soul radiates light."

"Doesn't everyone's soul do that?" I asked. From every movie I'd ever seen it always looked like souls glowed when people died. That's just what they did. He laughed and pulled out of my grip. I guess my death grip wasn't as strong as I thought. "Why are you laughing at me?" I asked nervously, he could leave at any moment.

"I've forgotten how little the living know about death," he said and laughed again. "What I'm trying to tell you is too complicated for you to grasp."

"I'm smarter than you think." I said. "Explain it to me, or else forget about this arrangement we've got. I never promised you my soul." Well, actually I might have but I certainly didn't have anything like this in mind. I just thought that I'd die instead of Andy.

"You traded yours for that of your brother," he said calmly. "I need you to understand one thing. You and I are connected in a way that no two people have been connected in a very long time. We are tied to each other; we would always have found one another."

"Okay…" I said. Nothing he was saying made any sense. "What do you need my soul for?" His back was turned toward the door, I just knew he was about to run out without an explanation. No way would I let him do that. "You owe me this Endymion."

"The pearl I gave to you is something I've had for a very long time. It was originally white but with time it became tainted by the darkness inside of me. All things become tainted by the darkness inside me. The way your soul shines mine exudes darkness. We are the opposite ends of the spectrum and because of this we are attracted to one another. We belong together. You are the balance I need to continue doing what I do." He said but would not turn around.

"You're evil and I'm good," I began to say but he swirled around fast as lightning.

"No, that's not even close to what I meant. I told you that your mythology can't explain my world. Why do you keep insisting on using it as a guideline to understanding my world? Why can't you just listen and trust me?" He was moving way to fast and before I knew it he had me in a death grip. He grabbed me with both hands and shook my shoulders.

"I'm just trying to make sense of a very confusing situation." I said slowly. "You're hurting me."

He let go immediately. "I'm sorry that wasn't my intention."

"Endymion?" I asked when he remained quiet. "What do you want from me?" That was my original question and it was the most important one. What had I signed up for? And why couldn't I make sense of my feelings? The guy had shaken me senseless and instead of feeling angry towards him I felt bad for him. I wanted to comfort him. How screwed up is that?

"I need someone to help me keep the balance of the souls. I need a partner. I need you." He looked into my eyes and then touched my cheek gently. "Forgive me for my outburst, I will be back when I have control of myself." He said and turned toward the door. It vanished as soon as he went through it.

I was left alone.

Alone with my thoughts, with my emotions, with my wildly crazy mood swings, I was left alone. Hours, maybe days later I was still alone. He hadn't come back in practically forever and I was still uncertain how I felt about the situation. I needed to talk to him but he wouldn't show up so I could yell at him. This was so not fair. Why did all of my feelings depend on his? Why did I have to wait for him to get "control of himself" and what the hell did that mean? As I was just about to lose my mind completely a door appeared. It was a simply white door that could have easily passed for the one I had back home. Nothing special about it but it was there and without thinking about it I turned the knob and it opened.

"Finally," I said as I stepped through the threshold. I went into a dark hallway that seemed to have no end. I don't know how long I was walking before I got to the other side. Then again, time didn't mean anything here so hours could be seconds and seconds could be hours. That was still really hard to wrap my head around but what I did know was that I had made it to the other side and another door greeted me. It was a dark heavy wooden door. The kind you see in period films. I stepped through it.

"Welcome," a voice greeted me as I stepped through. The room I entered looked like a library, an enormous library. Book shelves covered every wall, no windows as usual and the bookshelves went up without end. No ceiling. But the most interesting sight wasn't the enormous amount of books or the desk and leather chair at the center of the room. The most interesting sight was the woman who sat in the chair, her ankles crossed as they sat on the desk. She wore a dark red dress that left little to the imagination and her long black hair created a very mysterious air around her, as if she needed it.

"Who are you?" I asked as I made my way over to her. The door vanished behind me. Great, now I was stuck here, wherever here was. In my jeans and tee shirt I didn't feel like we were on even footing.

"Darling girl, the question you should be asking is who you are." She said in a sultry voice. Her violet eyes flashed as she smiled a bright smile. "You are very important, you should know that." She said.

"Why?" Endymion had said the same thing but he hadn't explained why. I guess he'd tried but he hadn't done a very good job. "Why?" I asked again.

"Didn't your lover tell you?" she asked smiling the same wicked smile.

"How do you know that?" I asked. This was not a situation I should be in. Note to self: if you see a random door appear in the future don't walk through it.

"I know a lot about you, more than you do. You have questions and I have the answers to those questions." She said. "Sit," she said and another leather chair appeared on the other side of the desk. J

"Okay" I said. I was never going to get used to things just appearing out of thin air. "But seriously," I said "I can't just call you nothing. What's your name?"

"Why is it that the living always have to name everything?" she said as she tapped her fingers against the wooden desk. "Fine, if you must know" she rolled her eyes and took a moment to think "when I was alive I was called Raye. Is that enough?" She said staring directly at me. I felt really small and stupid all of the sudden.

"Yes," I said squeaked out an answer.

"May we continue?" she said rolling her eyes again. "You are special" she said not waiting for me to say anything.

"I've got that, heard it a lot from Endymion," I said. This chick was really annoying. I wished I could go back to Endymion's room anything would be better than talking to her.

"Good, at least he's told you that much. Strange," she said as she righted herself and took her feet off of the desk. "I expected you to be different. For someone so spectacular you appear rather dimwitted and simple." She said raising a dark eyebrow.

This was a challenge, I knew that much. I didn't know what to say back. So I said the next thing that popped into my head. "Whatever, I don't even know what I'm doing here talking to you. I'm done. I want to go home."

"Really?" she smiled a wicked smile. "Are you really sure that's what you want? I don't believe Endymion would like that much less allow it." She said then moved closer to me. "I could help you with that if you want me to."

"What?" I couldn't believe this. Surely she was breaking some sort of rule just talking to me, and offering me help like this I couldn't believe it. Endymion didn't seem like the type of person to let this slide. Then again, I didn't know how their relationship worked. She could be his enemy and I was playing right into her hands. "It's no use" I said "he would just come after me."

"Ahh so you've tried that route already. I'm surprised you're survived the experience. He must care for you."

"I guess. How do you know him?" I asked.

"Shall we call it fate?" she said as she smiled a darker smile.

This was getting really creepy and criptic. "What?"

"You've asked me a question I don't think you'd like the answer to. I know for a fact that your lover will not want me to tell you but" she smiled deeper "since you asked. I know him because I was his first light source."

"You were like me?" I asked slowly. She didn't seem anything like me. In her presence all I felt was darkness. How could she have been like me? She exuded it the way that Endymion did. It clung to her body the same way. She couldn't have been telling the truth. "You're not like me."

"Not anymore. Once, a very long time ago, I was." She said eyeing me. "Then I met Endymion and things changed. He thinks you're special the same way he thought I was. You may be all bright and sunny right now but my dear you will lose that. As long as you're with him you will lose your souls light and then you'll be stuck here just as I am. You see, once you belong to Endymion he will always have you. Even in death I cannot cross over because I am his. It doesn't matter that he no longer wants me no one wants someone who has been tainted by his darkness."

"You're lying. He'd never hurt me." I said. I hoped that was true. I just couldn't believe that he'd been with someone else, especially someone like her. "He said he's never found someone like me before."

"Really?" she laughed loudly. "He's told many that same lie. I'll introduce you sometime."

"No," I cried and stood up. "I want to go back. Where is that door?"

"There is no way back." She said rolling her eyes. "What if I told you that you were stuck here forever?"

"You would be lying" a voice said from behind me.

"Endymion?" I turned around to find his angry eyes. He looked ready to kill.

"You have no business speaking with her," he said as he advanced toward her. She looked so scared that I almost felt sorry for her, almost. He couldn't have possibly been in love her with the way he was with me.

"I meant no harm," she stuttered as she paled.

"Of course not," he said and turned toward me. "How did you get here?"

"A door appeared, like the one you left in." I said. "I thought you were sending for me or something." Now I was the one stuttering.

"I didn't send for you" he said then took a breath. "Come" he said as he held out his hand.

"Okay" I said and took his hand. It felt cold, really cold. In a blink we were back in his room. "Endymion" I said slowly uncertain how to ask but knowing I had to. "Was she telling the truth, were you two together?"

"Yes," he said slowly. His blue eyes were sad. "She wasn't the one I need, she wasn't you. I know you'll be different. I feel it." He reached for me and brought his lips to mine.

I wanted to enjoy the sensation. I wanted to trust him. After everything that had happened, my first inclination was still to trust him. I wanted to but the voices in my head were repeating the conversation I'd had with Raye. I couldn't trust him.

"What if I'm not?"


	7. Chapter 7

"What if I'm not?" I asked again. We had been standing in the same place for twenty minutes and Endymion hadn't answered my question. "Endymion, are you going to answer my question?"

"You are different" he said but didn't meet my eyes. "You're light is the strongest I've ever seen. You have exceeded all of my expectations. You are different. I have to go." With that he was gone.

I thought I was alone but when I turned around she was there.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Raye said in a provoking manner.

"What's interesting is that you're here when I'm pretty sure Endymion wouldn't like that very much. It's dangerous for you to be here." I said trying my best to be menacing. I was the winner here, he was my guy and she was just a jealous ex.

"No, sweetheart" she said in a patronizing way "it's dangerous for you to be here. You should heed my warning and leave."

"I can't leave!" I cried throwing my hands up into the air. Usually, my emotions would have taken over and I'd be a mess, not knowing what I felt and feeling everything at once but not with Raye nearby. Then again it could be that I was working out the kinks of this place.

"Not on your own" she said moving closer.

I closed my eyes and imagined it again. Going home sounded like the sweetest thing anyone could have given me but not like this. "He will find me" I said.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that he will not have the power to make you come back with him. I can help you." She walked closer, too close. We were facing one another and I noticed that her eyes were darker than I had first expected them to be. Like Endymion, she was filled with darkness. The thought of becoming like that scared me.

"I traded places with my brother. If I go back he will kill him. I don't want that to happen" I said taking a step back. This was dangerous and I didn't really trust her. "Anyhow, why would you help me? I don't even know who you are." I said.

"No, you don't" she said taking another step towards me.

"Don't you people have personal space?" I snapped.

"Am I too close?" she smiled a wicked smile. Her dark hair shone in the light of Endymion's room.

She really was beautiful. She was beautiful in an exotic and breathtaking way that I'd never be. Envy and self-doubt took over me. I'm not proud of what I did next. I pushed her shoulders roughly. My hands made contact with her flesh and the most frightening thing happened. When I touched her skin, she burned. It was like deep sunburn, my handprints were brightly pronounced on her ivory skin. She cried out and stepped back.

"How did I do that?" I asked. Looking down at my hands I noticed that nothing had changed. They were still the same but somehow I'd hurt her. I had wanted to wipe that smug look off of her face but not like that. "I'm sorry I don't know how I did that."

Raye stood still as a statue. She didn't say anything or do anything but stare at me. It was eerie.

"Raye, are you okay?" I asked moving towards her. I did that without thinking and she shrank away from me.

"You stay right where you are. Don't come any closer" she said raising her arms in defense. "How did you?"

"I don't know. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry" I stuttered out my apology.

"That's the first time I've felt anything in so long" she said looking down at her burns. Then she looked up at me and smiled. That creeped me out more than I can put into words.

"I'm sorry" I repeated.

"No, you don't understand. Thank you" she said. Her dark eyes misted with tears as she rubbed her hands over the burns over and over.

"You're thanking me?" I stuttered. "That's just wrong. This is all wrong." I said staring at the dark haired girl as she rubbed her hands over the burns repeatedly.

"It is wrong," she whispered looking up at me.

Her dark eyes looked less dark for a moment. I could almost make out the color they must have been once, a deep violet. She must have been really beautiful when she was alive.

"If you stay here with Endymion, you will become just like the rest of us. Even pain is a welcome feeling when you have felt nothing for so long."

Her words sunk deep into my soul. I shuddered with a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature. "What do I have to do?" I whispered.

"Follow me" she said leading the way as another door appeared. I noticed that she kept her distance.

I followed her, hoping for the second time that walking down an unknown and creepy hallway wasn't a mistake.

The next room we entered looked like an enormous dining room. The ceiling reached up without end. At the center stood the longest dining room table I had ever seen. It must have fit hundreds of people but I only saw three girls sitting around it picking at their food.

"Why do we even bother?" a blonde said throwing grapes at one of her companions, a petit blue-haired girl.

"Because Mina," a brunette spoke up but upon noticing our arrival her words died in her throat.

"Who is this, Raye?" the blue-haired girl asked as she eyed me up and down.

"Endymion's new light" Raye said offhandedly. She then lounged on one of the chairs and joined the others in staring at me.

Creepy… I stood there silently for a few minutes, then a few more. "To hell with it" I snapped. "Stop staring at me!"

"She's got a mouth on her doesn't she?" Mina said with a smirk. "Not a proper girl are you dearie?"

"A sailor's tongue indeed" the brunette agreed. "I would have expected someone different after his last conquest" she said eyeing the blonde next to her.

"I take offense" Mina rolled her eyes and laughed.

"No you're right, Lita. They do look very similar, almost like they could be related. Is that possible Amy?" she asked the blue-haired girl to her left.

"I suppose so" Amy agreed. "Maybe it's something in the genetic makeup that makes this lineage different than the rest." Her eyes met mine. "Do you know Miss Mina Aino? Could she have been an ancestor of yours?"

"I don't know" I said. They were getting on my nerves with these stupid questions. "I thought you were going to get me out of here?" I asked Raye.

"I died generations ago perhaps they don't keep up with their heritage anymore." Mina chimed in completely ignoring me.

"Answer me, damn it" I shouted.

"Quite an attitude" Lita said eyeing the others.

"She must be your kin" Raye smiled sharing a look with the blonde. "I know what I said, Serena. I will keep my word. Why don't you have a seat?"

"Serena, that's a beautiful name" Mina said as I sat next to her.

She smiled at me the way my mother used to smile at me when I was a child and did something adorable. I hadn't done anything adorable and they'd see soon enough how not-adorable I could be if they kept up the creepy staring and smiling.

"Quit looking at me like that" I snapped. Everything they did seemed to irritate me more and more.

"It's happening much more quickly than it should be" Amy said to Raye who nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You and Endymion are connected" Amy said.

I rolled my eyes. "Kinda knew that already."

"Well, did you know that if you are far enough apart it changes you?" Raye sniped as she defended her companion.

"What do you mean it changes me?" I asked.

"You become irritated and angry and eventually, if you're really my kin, you will harm those around you." Mina said slowly. "But it should not be happening this quickly."

"No, it should not. I wonder if the intensity of their relationship has anything to do with it" Amy said taping her fingers on the table, lost in thought. "I wonder what would happen if we…" she stopped talking and turned toward the door that appeared behind her. "Are we in trouble?" she asked.

"Most likely" Raye replied.

The door opened and an angry Endymion stormed through. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked but it sounded more like an accusation.

"We were simply getting to know our new visitor" Raye said in the same smug voice she'd used earlier.

He hadn't liked it then but he really wasn't having it now. "Serena, come here" he snapped and I stood. I didn't want to be the type of girl who obeys every command her boyfriend barks at her but for some reason I felt like I needed to be near him. It was more powerful than anything I'd felt before. Even if he hadn't told me to go to him I would have.

"Just one question, Endymion" Mina stood up and intercepted my path.

She looked small as she stood between the two of us. He was much larger. I wondered if I looked that way to others. Standing next to her I could see the resemblance. We could have been sisters.

"Are you choosing your mates from my familial line?" she asked. She didn't have the same rebellious attitude Raye displayed but there was something there. She spoke as if she had a right to ask him, as if he had to answer her. He did.

"It must have been coincidence" he said and walked around her toward me.

The moment our fingers touched, I felt a spark that hadn't been there before. All of the irritation and anger left me and I felt better than I had in the last half hour. His touch made me feel safe and good and I couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave him.

"I see" Mina said as she watched the two of us.

"Are you going to lock her in your chambers, now?" Raye asked twirling her hair between her fingers. "You never know who she could meet if she's free to roam the halls."

"That's none of your concern." Endymion said as he wrapped his arm around my waist. With a blink we were gone from the dining room and back in his bedroom.

"Is it my concern?" I asked. "If you think you're going to keep me locked up like a prisoner, you've got another thing coming." I said looking up into his blue eyes. They were blue, surprisingly blue—bluer than I'd seen them before. Was he the one changing or was I?


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I know I haven't posted in forever. Sorry guys. I was stuck! You know how it goes when you have a starting point and you can't stop thinking about a way a story should go and then you get a fork in the road and you can't decide. Well, I've decided. And I think it's going to be a bit darker than I intended. Endymion may not be such a good guy in this story, but I still love him and hopefully there is something he can do to redeem himself. Okay, whew that was a long author note. Thanks for sticking with me and thank you especially to the people who review. I desperately need your input because you guys offer so many different ideas for me, otherwise I get stuck. Okay thanks, Enjoy! **

"Serena, you mustn't trust them. They are jealous women who will only bring trouble between us," he said annoyance evident in his voice.

"They said that I'd be like them one day," I said softly. "That I would lose my light and you haven't reassured me that it won't happen. You can't just keep me locked up, Endymion. You have to let me be free to make my own choices." My words surprised even me. How could I sound so mature even to my own ears?

"I," he said slowly.

What could he say? I was still held prisoner in his bedroom. I didn't particularly like being apart from him but I wanted to be able to make my own choices and so far I hadn't been allowed to do any choosing since I'd traded my life for Andrew's. His dark eyes burrowed deeply into mine as if he was trying to read my mind.

I hoped he wasn't able to do that. It would add a whole new level or weirdness to an already bizarre situation.

"Endymion," I said taking a breath. "Tell me who you are and where we are. Tell me what your world really is and the role you want me to play in it," I said softly. I needed to know and the fact that he thought I was to dimwitted to get it was seriously driving me up a wall. His habit of choosing beautiful girls to suck the soul out of was also; let's say a bit more than disturbing, but that I could deal with after he'd explained what he wanted from me. What exactly did he want from my light, whatever that meant?

Endymion took a deep breath and then looked deeply into my eyes. I was stuck somewhere between awe at the intensity of his so dark blue they almost looked black eyes and rage at being the sort of girl who crumbles at the sight of some pretty eyes. Could I really be blamed? Sixteen is a hormonal age and he did say we were soul mates, but he'd apparently had plenty of those, a harem, to be exact. It took every ounce of will that I had but I managed to staple down my irrational and hormonal desires and focused on the task at hand, which was that I needed information.

"This," he said raising my hand and touching the small pear tied to it. In the process he touched my skin and made me feel like I was about to burst into flames, why couldn't I get a hold of my stupid feelings?

"This," he continued, "is the only time I've seen the black pearl turn completely white," he finished as if that was meant to explain everything.

I did feel like I was special in some way. At least, I'd been able to do something none of the girls in his harem had been able to do but that still didn't erase the fact that he'd been with each and every one of them. That thought made me sick to my stomach with jealousy.

"Okay," I said, testing my voice. It didn't shake, that was good. At least I had some control. "What exactly is the pearl? What does it do?" I asked, hoping he would answer me, without all of the runaround.

"You've already seen what it does," he whispered, moving closer to me.

His breath ticked my ear and my skin just about combusted right then. "Stop, okay" I cried. "I can't think when you're that close to me," I said pushing on his chest.

"Sorry," he said and he looked like he actually meant it. He stepped back, visibly winded. I wasn't the only one who couldn't control my feelings. Whatever he'd done to be calm a few moments ago was wearing off and I knew exactly what that would mean.

"It's a teleportation device," I said, getting my head back into the conversation we were having, or supposed to be having. Why did he have to look so good in black?

"In part," he said. His dark eyes traveled down the length of my body.

"Focus," I spat, stepping back a few steps.

"You feel it too," he said, taking a few steps toward me. That was not at all what I wanted. We'd never get anywhere if we kept giving into our desires. Even if we'd spend the next hundred years talking, we'd never actually get to the point.

"We could both concentrate a lot better on Earth," pointed out, taking two more steps back.

"Can I trust you?" he asked softly. Earnest and curious, his eyes told me he really didn't trust me. He didn't understand how much I needed him. Maybe I didn't understand either but I knew that I couldn't lose him now. No matter how I felt about losing my family, I'd never felt like this before. I'd never felt this drawn to anyone. He didn't have anything to worry about. I would always find my way back to him.

"Yes," I said simply. How else could I explain it to him? If I told him everything I felt, he would have all the power and he had enough of that already. At least topside I'd have some control over my emotions and wouldn't have to worry about being visited by his past girlfriends. That would be a huge plus. Comparing myself to his past loves was going to drive me crazy, and the situation was already crazy enough.

"Good," he said looking deeply into my eyes. He took my hand, the least amount of skin touching as was possible, just in case we lost control again and we were gone.

I had never felt more overjoyed at seeing a simple room in my life. I couldn't explain the way it felt to be standing in California, to hear the waves outside and to be able to trump the overwhelming need to kiss him. I could almost control it up here.

"Thanks," I said, taking a step back. He didn't move. He watched me, his dark eyes following my every move. I could tell he was still nervous leaving me here, now that I could go wherever I wanted. "You can have the pearl if you want it," I said softly. It was mine, it felt mine but I would give it to him if that would ease his mind. Never mind the fact that the pearl had belonged to a bunch of other women before me, I still felt attached to it somehow.

"I couldn't do that," he said softly.

"Then you're going to have to trust me," I said. My chin raised high. Then a thought struck me. "You took it from the other girls," I said thinking back. "Unless we all have identical jewelry, in which case ewww! You should totally come up with something more original."

"The pearl is not just an object. It chooses you and only when it releases you can you be separated from it, only when you no longer desire me can we be separated," he said. Remnants of past hurt reflected in his dark eyes and it haunted me.

I hadn't even thought of the possibility that the previous women he'd loved had left _him_. I'd assumed the opposite. This possibility troubled me. How could they choose not to be with him? How could they stop loving him? How could anyone ever let go of this incredible and unexplainable feeling? Could I? And if I did, what would I become? Losing him would take all the light from me, it would destroy me. The pieces were starting to fit together. Perhaps they'd lost their light because they'd stopped loving him and not because of anything he'd done to them. Then again, maybe the pearl was simply sucking the life out of them and when it was done it took everything from them, even their ability to love. Either way, I couldn't imagine a time when I no longer loved Endymion, when I no longer loved at all.

"So," I said, sitting on my plush bed. I'd missed the comforting way my weight shifted on it. "Tell me everything," I said.

"Everything," he smiled.

"I've got time and it's not like you're getting any older," I said softly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, "What if you don't like some of the things I tell you," he asked.

"It's better to know. Besides, how am I supposed to spend the rest of eternity with a guy I don't know anything about, except for the fact that he's death personified," I said, returning his smile. There was sadness in our shared looks. We knew that once we opened this can of worms, there'd be no closing it. I just didn't realize exactly how frightening the worms were and how much of a mess they'd make.

"I was human once," he began as he sat beside me on the bed. The weight shifted and the bed squeaked a bit.

"I lived a long time ago, before man knew how to write his thoughts down. All my life, my mother had told me that my father had been taken by death. I just assumed, as most people do, that my father had died. It was a thing that happened often. Men hunted and that was dangerous so I'd always assumed that she meant that he'd died an honorable death that he'd died trying to provide for his family. My brother and I made up stories to explain our fathers absence and we thought we were so clever because we'd fooled everyone but the elders who knew what had happened."

Endymion's face took on a vulnerable look. He smiled thinking of the past, of his brother and I wished I'd known him then. Would I have loved him any less or more if I'd known him when he'd been innocent?

"What really happened?" I asked, softly. I didn't want to ruin his stroll down memory lane. I would guess that he didn't often allow himself the chance to remember and I didn't want to hurry him along but I knew that he'd be called back to his world to do whatever it is he did and I'd be left without explanation so I had to ask.

"Just what my mother had always told me," he said softly. "Death had come for him. She was a woman he had known long ago, before he'd given up his place at her side, before he'd chosen my mother." He spoke so carefully that I thought he might break if he thought anymore about what had happened.

"She took him from your mother," I said. I knew the pain of losing a father. Mine had left us only a few years ago and the wound still felt fresh. I'd never blamed him for dying and I'd never blamed death for taking him. I'd never blamed anyone, really. But if I'd thought that he'd gone back to someone else, I would have blamed him and I'd have been angry too. That would have made losing him a million times worse.

"My mother understood that she couldn't control the forces of life and death. We came from a much simpler time. A time when complex things like life and death were not mere ideas but real entities, people you could call them. My mother knew that she could not defeat Death and she knew that my father was Death's lover. She let him go. The worst thing came to be realized when my brother turned eighteen. Mother couldn't have guessed that Death would hold a grudge against my mother. She couldn't have guessed that Death would take the children my father had sired. The day my brother accepted Death's offer, was the worst day I'd ever lived through. It broke my mother and I vowed that I would never leave her," he said with burning words.

This was important to him. Telling this story, his story was important and needed to be done. Maybe he didn't even realize how much he needed to tell this story but then again it was destroying him to remember, I could tell. He shook violently and I reached out to him, stroking his cheek. He leaned his head against my hand and before I knew it we were lying in each other's arms. I was trying my best to soothe him.

I couldn't imagine what my mother would have gone through if she'd lost Andrew right after losing my father, what had she gone through now that she'd lost me? Fear gripped my heart for a long moment. Endymion didn't notice my grief because he was too lost in his own. Loving him, being there for him, losing myself in him, was so easy that I'd forgotten how much I loved my own family. I'd forgotten how easily I'd lost them and they had lost me. Even though I'd promised him that he could trust me, I knew that I had to get a message to my mom and Andrew, they had to know that I was okay, even if I wasn't sure if I was okay. They had to know that they didn't have to mourn me, not the way they mourned my father.

"Serena," he said after a long time. His voice jolted me out of my thoughts and I couldn't help the guilty look that crossed my face. He was too lost in despair to notice my guilty expression. "I can't tell you any more today, I'm sorry," he said sounding desperate.

"I understand," I said softly. And I did understand. Losing your family hurts, even if you get to make the choice to lose them, even if you think you're doing something for the right reasons, it's still painful.

"I need to get back," he said drawing back.

I knew that he wanted me to go with him. A part of me wanted to but another part of me, the stubborn rebellious part of me knew that I couldn't, that my resolve would waver. I knew that if I went back that I wouldn't get this chance again. I knew that I wouldn't be able to tell my mother that I was okay, that I'd found someone who loved me and that I was part of something special, something more. I knew and I couldn't go back with him, no matter how much I wanted to. I held my tongue and he stood beside the bed, waited for me to beg him to take me with him. He waited but I held back. The moment stretched so thin that I thought I would shatter in the silence of words we weren't' saying but that were being said anyhow.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said at last because I needed to say something. Hope radiated through his dark eyes, making them bluer. It radiated in me too. Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow would come and I would find him by my side. Maybe he would understand now that he'd remembered how much it hurt him to lose his family. Maybe he would forgive me for what I knew I had to do. He kissed my cheek and was gone. I lay on my bed for a long time, wrecked with tears and despair. This was my choice but it was going to hurt worse than any other I'd made in my life. I was choosing to betray him and I was doing so with complete rational forethought.

Finally, I went to my bathroom and showered. I stepped into one of the beautiful dresses that hung in the closet. It was a lavender empire waist dress that made me look ethereal and fragile at the same time. I'd never imagined that I could look that way. I braided my hair to get it away from my face and set my shoulders straight. This time, when I thought of home, I didn't think of our small cottage. I thought of my mom and Andrew. When I opened my eyes, there were no mountains before me. I was standing in front of a hospital window and the sight before me was terrifying as much as it was confusing.

My mother was hunched over asleep next to a hospital bed. I cleared my mind. This couldn't be right, I shook my head. I'd traded my life for Andrew's he was alive. He couldn't be here. Endymion wouldn't lie to me. I looked harder and noticed something odd. The person lying in the bed, the person to whom my mother clung to, even in her sleep, had long blond hair. It was braided in a long pale blond braid.

"No," I uttered the word in despair. This couldn't be true.

"Serena?" Andrew said surprising me. He looked just as startled as I was, maybe more so. "How are you here?" he asked.

"Andrew," I said slowly, not sure that I was understanding the situation. I had to be getting it wrong. How could I be in two places at once? "How is this possible?" I asked. "I was supposed to die."

"Serena," he said softly. "You did, almost. We found you lying on the ground. I wasn't fast enough to stop it from happening. How are you here now? I thought he'd taken your soul." Andrew spoke with a harsh whisper. His blond features that had always seemed so friendly took on a darkness I hadn't expected. I'd never seen him hate anyone but that's what he felt now.

"I don't know," I said softly. Closing my eyes I finally realized what was going on. I realized why I was special. Maybe Endymion didn't know, maybe he thought I was stronger than the rest of the girls but I knew now. I was stronger because I wasn't dead yet. Medicine had come a long way; apparently doctors could keep a person alive on life support even after their soul left their body. My mother wasn't just suffering from mourning my death she was suffering from hoping that I would return to her. The pain broke through my chest and I felt it traverse my entire body.

"I have to go Andy," I said softly.

"Serena, don't what if I never see you again?" he said desperately.

I looked into his blue eyes, the same eyes I'd also inherited from our father. "You will," I said softly.

Rage twisted up inside me but I forced it down. My brother didn't need to know how much I'd gone through in the last few days. He didn't need to know what I had to do now. There was still a chance that Endymion didn't know that I was still fighting for my life, a small chance but still a chance. If he did know he would pay for the pain he'd caused. I closed my eyes and returned to my bedroom. A moment later I realized that I wasn't alone.


	9. Chapter 9

"Who's there?" I said. A shape emerged from the shadows near my window. The setting sun, just outside, made the visitor's profile only half lit. Still, I realized who I saw and she wasn't who I'd expected at all. She was not Endymion.

"Why are you here? How are you here?" I asked realizing that this was probably a rare occurrence since she wasn't meant to leave the underworld. Then again, as it was my world was turned upside down and maybe I didn't know what I thought I knew.

"So, you've seen," Mina said softly and stepped completely into the light given off through the window. It lit up her blond hair and made her look almost angelic.

I didn't like the comparison and switched on the light switch which illuminated the room and took away some of the mystery. She gasped softly and looked up with wide blue eyes. Watching her was almost like watching a different version of me, she wore a similar dress, hers was white but it still looked like an alternate mirror reflection. Her long hair hung loose around her shoulders as she walked towards me. I held my breath and didn't say anything else. I didn't really feel ready to talk to anyone about what I'd learned but apparently I didn't have a choice.

"Serena," she began softly. Her high voice rang as the small echoes bounced it around the open room.

I couldn't do this, not now, not with her. I wanted; I needed to be speaking with someone else. I needed to be speaking with Endymion.

"Mina, you shouldn't be here. I don't know how you are here but you'd better go back to the underworld before he comes back. He likes to check up on me a lot. Actually, I'm surprised that he's not here right now," I said in thought. The realization frightened me. So far, Endymion had been somewhat predictable. I'd learned his habits fairly quickly, especially when they pertained to me. But he wasn't here and that could only mean that he'd had enough of me. The mere thought frightened me more than I can say. Don't get me wrong, I was stilled pissed that he'd lied to me about…whatever it is that had happened to me, he'd lied but I couldn't imagine a world in which he wasn't mine and I wasn't his. This frightened me even more.

"The girls can be a handful when they wish to be," Mina replied with a small smile that died as quickly as it reached her lips. "We need to talk," she said softly.

"What are you going to do about what happened? It's done. Who I need to talk to is Endymion." I spat, angrily. It was her fault that Endymion wasn't here, that he didn't know that I knew. If it weren't for her and the others, Endymion would be here and I'd be able to tell him off. I'm not sure exactly what I'd say but it would come to me in the moment, I'm sure.

"You don't understand," she sighed, shaking her head. Her blond waves danced around her body like a golden waterfall. "You're too untrusting of me. I know that you don't know me but we are kin and so you'll have to take a leap of faith. You will have to trust me, Serena. I did save your life," she whispered and waited for the information to sink in.

"You did that!" I cried. "My mother has been in the hospital all this time, worrying to death about me. How can I trust you now?" my rage infuriated me and I couldn't think straight. I wanted to throttle her.

"And you are alive. I think you've forgotten the most important detail in that story. I saved your life. I knew that he would destroy you and I did what I had to do in order to end the cycle," she said vaguely like she was answering everything when in fact, she was only bringing about more questions.

"What cycle?" I asked bewildered by her explanation. "Besides, I thought you were trapped in the underworld," I said.

"You know nothing," she said agitated and then visibly calmed herself by taking several deep breaths.

I counted to ten in my head, then twenty and then thirty and she finally opened her mouth to speak again.

"I'm sorry; my spirited ways have gotten the best of me, a trait we share if you haven't noticed." She smiled a coy smile that made me want to smack her pretty mouth. "Endymion can't help but do what he does. I know you don't understand that yet but you should. He is not at fault for the things he's done. He was cursed to roam the Earth long ago, he was cursed to search and mind the dead for all eternity, that is, until he finds his equal in all things opposite."

I knew what was next. "Me," I said slowly, realizing what they'd planned. "What are you going to do with me?"

"The only way to lift the curse from Endymion, from us all, is for him to find that person, and I believe you're her," Mina said. Her blue eyes, a shade lighter than mine, I realized, were glistening with unshed tears. This meant a lot to her, I understood that but so what? This was my life. I was the one who had to sacrifice everything, including the happiness of my family and it would all be for a lie.

"Let me get this straight," I paused for emphasis and started circling her. She wasn't the only one who could be coy and mysterious. "You want me to pretend to be Endymion's equal, whatever that means, so that you can be free from being stuck in the underworld. Is that right?" I raised an eyebrow, a skill I'd been honing since middle school.

"Yes," she said softly. Her pink lips set in a slight smile. She was relaxing, thinking that I would play along.

"What do I get out of it?" I whispered in her ear, just to be creepy. "My body's on a respirator right now, being kept alive with machines. My family thinks I'm going to come back, am I? In this plan of yours, can I go back? Can Endymion? What happens when he realizes that I'm not the "one"?" I said, hooking my fingers to make air quotes. She was seriously pissing me off and she'd caught me on an already bad day.

"You ask a lot of questions," she sighed "and we don't have the time to answer all of them. Serena you're going to have to"

I cut her off. "If you're going to tell me to trust you, you can stop right there. I don't trust you. I don't know you. You're my boyfriend's ex. relatively speaking, you have every motive to stab me in the back," I cried. "Prove to me that I can trust you," I said, with venom dripping off each and every word.

That caught her off guard and she stumbled over her words for a while. Mina kept opening her mouth and then shutting it again but finally she took a deep breath and spoke. We were close enough that I could smell the tangerine perfume that surrounded her. Who knew dead people could smell so good.

"I've been this way for a very long time. Even things like artificial light, something you seem to think is common, is new to me. Imagine being in my shoes. Imagine the rest of your life in the underworld. Imagine how it would change you, what it will take from you. If you don't help us, you will certainly become one of us and I would not wish that upon anyone, especially not my kin." She spoke softly, choosing each word carefully.

"What will happen to me if I help you?" I asked. She was right, she was wrong about a lot of things but this really scared me. I didn't want to be like her. I'm not sure if we were family, not any family I knew about not that my family kept track of that sort of thing. I just couldn't be like them; I couldn't be trapped in the underworld longing for a man who no longer loved me. But then again, I had to know what would happen if I agreed to this plan, the basics of which we'd yet to discuss.

"We hope that you will become human again, that we all will. We are not sure, so know this, you could die. What risks you take, we all take," she said. Her words struck me. She kept saying we because it involved everyone, all the girls I'd seen around that table and the one's I had yet to see. It involved Endymion.

"What happens to Endymion?" I asked. I couldn't hurt him. No matter what he'd done, every fiber of my being screamed to me that I couldn't hurt him. Whatever choices I made, had to involve and would always involve him.

"I'm not sure. He could go back to his time and live out his life like he should have but he could also suffer the same fate we all will. He could find himself human in a new world that none of us understand." Mina smiled and I could see the same desire, the same concern in her eyes and I had to ask.

"Do you still love him?" I said, barely audibly.

"Of course," she whispered just as quietly. "We loved so long ago that I sometimes forget what it felt like but I care for him nonetheless. I wonder if it had not been for the bond, if I would still have chosen him. I had so many suitors back then," she smiled remembering. "I was quite a debutant and my family had money, no man in his right mind would pass up the chance to be with me but Endymion, well you understand," she said. Our eyes met for a long moment.

I wondered if she felt what I felt. What I really felt. Was my connection with Endymion not as special as I thought? For a moment, I imagined going back to being sixteen year old Serena and kissing quarterbacks and finishing high school, going to college, meeting a nice boy and getting married. I couldn't see my life without Endymion. It hurt too much. Another set of images filled my head, a life with Endymion, dark and dreary and never being able to touch him, watching him fall in love with another girl. That, I couldn't imagine living through, that would be worse. I sighed.

"Okay," I said softly. "What do I have to do?"

Delight filled her blue eyes. "Nothing," she said quickly. "Of course, you cannot tell him that you know. You must keep up the rouse. He must not suspect anything. We will take care of everything. We will keep your body alive and you simply have to make him love you more than any other he's ever loved or can love. Make him choose you above all else. When the time comes, you will know." Mina said with a triumphant smile. Her lips set in a deep grin and I couldn't help but think of a kid in a candy store with an unlimited amount of money. She was going to get what she wanted, what she'd set out to get. I'd played right into her hands. Whatever I might think or say, I really did trust her and I hoped that she was deserving of my trust. With a tilt of her blond head, she disappeared as though she hadn't been there at all. She didn't even wait for a reply from me. She knew that I would say yes.

I had no other choice, really.

"Okay," I said to the tin air. I hoped that the sinking feeling in my gut was wrong, that this decision would not come back to bite me in ass. I hoped that I wouldn't regret it but I knew deep down that I would. There has to be a catch with escaping a death sentence. Now, all I had to worry about was my acting skills, heaven help me.

**AN: This one's a bit shorter but I'll make it up to you with the next one. As always R&R. **


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